Anecdotes of the Connaught Circuit; From Its Foundation in 1604 to Close Upon the Present Time (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1885 Excerpt: ...place in 1796, which was the clothing of the assistant barristers with power to hear Civil Bills for sums of small amount, and a withdrawal from the Judges of Assize of all Civil Bill jurisdiction, save on appeal. The history of Civil Bills is not without interest. Previous to the reign of Queen Anne they had been unauthorized by the law of the land, though they were established by Lord Strafford, and the sixth article of his impeachment was grounded on the establishment of such an illegally constituted Court. In their incipiency, Civil CIVIL BILLS. 165 Bills were known as " English Bills," to distinguish them from the pleadings in the Superior Courts of Common Law, which were in Latin; and the reason for their being called " Civil Bills " was due to their similarity to bills in the " Civil Law," as the "Code, the Pandects, and the Institutes " of Justinian are called. The statute of 2nd of Anne, cap. 18, A.d. 1704, followed by the 6th of Anne, cap. 5, which was made permanent by statute 2 Geo. I., cap. 11, A.d. 1714, must be considered as the earliest of the Civil Bill code, and the foundation of the present system of bringing the law home to every man's door. This last-mentioned Act empowered the Judges of Assize, in their respective circuits, to hear and determine in a summary way by an " English Bill," or paper petition in the English language, all manner of disputes or differences between party and party, for any sum not exceeding that in the Act set forth.1 This mode of trying causes of small amount before the Judges of Assize on their several circuits continued with but little alteration from 1714 to 1796, when the statute 86 Geo. III., chapter 25, was enacted, which entirely withdrew from the Judges ...